I'm in my last year of school going through the flight program at Purdue. Pretty soon I'm going to be making the jump into the real world and my goal has always been to fly in the military. I've become very interested in the coast guard recently and am strongly considering that, but at the same time I am considering anything.

Did you all go into the military knowing you wanted to fly? and if so why did you choose the branch you did?

I am aware that getting a flight slot is never a sure thing in the military, but is there anything I can do to stand out and better my chances?

I'm really just looking for general advice and words of wisdom.

Thanks

Coast Guard has a lot of prior service aviators, i don't think the other services have as many prior coasties.

I joined knowing I wanted to fly, but exactly what I wanted to fly changed over time.

Each service has its own quirks and specific points.  
For the Air Force, getting a pilot slot is mainly about being toward the top of your respective class at your commissioning program, being medically qualified, and asking for a rated slot.  AFSC (career specialty codes) are always "needs of the Air Force,' but if you are the top of the rankings, you are very likely to get what you ask for.  ROTC programs generally rank on academics, PT scores, field training scores, and the unit commander's ranking of you.  I don't know the weights, but you can find out pretty easily with google.  OTS is a little different, and I don't know the specifics.
Another alternative to active duty is Guard or Reserve.  With the guard, your aircraft will be specific to your unit, so you know what aircraft you will get on day 1 of pilot training (passing UPT is still required, of course!)

Advice:
Excel at whatever you put effort into.
Have a plan to make your goals.
Keep your options open enough to alter your plan.
Work HARD
Help your peers to do the same.

BaseOps.net has some useful forums
Also, serviceacademyforusms.com has some subsections that might help you out.

Do you have any more specific questions?

I had no desire to commit to the military life while I was in college and I never gave ROTC a thought after my freshman year. I also have no idea what kind of operations I would want to get involved with.

Really the air force has always been at the bottom of my list of choices because I have been under the impression that it's a very hard branch to fly in. I'm guessing there aren't a lot of spots left for people who didn't go through the academy or ROTC?

How hard is it to make it through the medical process? I've had PRK and see 20/20 or better, and I have a "partial amputation" on my record from slamming my finger in a car door, but they put it all back together for me. I'm in very good shape overall.

Air Force Guard and Reserves are usually overlooked.  They are great opportunities.  Check out those.  If you want to be employed past the mil, go fixed wing.

Friend of mine flies helos in the coast guard.  He flies more than me, lives on a beach, and gets all of the benefits of the 'big four' services.   He's also picked every assignment thus far.

Yeah I get that there are a lot more fixed wing jobs out there, but at the same time I wouldn't mind flying rotary winged aircraft. I'm not really sure what I want to do with flying after I graduate, Ideally I guess I would want to work for one of the big cargo companies.

I'll have to look into the Air Force Guard and Reserves. I haven't even considered those.

KY has a good Air Guard unit in Louisville. One thing that you should keep in mind is that pilots usually are selected from within a guard unit, and, in my experience, from maintainers in particular.  To be competitive you will need your PPL and at least some ratings.  Louisville unit flys C-130s.

I have my commercial instrument and multi add on.

This man speaks the truth.

On a good day it's 4 hours then golf, on a bad day it's 14 hours then bed.

Well, about 20% of officers in the active duty AF are pilots.  Not all of them are in flying assignments, of course.  
I won't claim that any pilot spot in any service is easy to get, but the AF isn't some impossible maze.  
Last I heard (6 years ago?) was that for active duty, OTS gets about 20% of pilot training slots, which is similar to their percentage in total commissions.

As for medical, here is the official source: http://www.wpafb.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-130118-045.pdf
If your PRK went well, it shouldn't be a big issue.  I don't know about the finger issue, but if it is 100% now, I don't think it should be a huge problem.

The AF is like many big organizations.  It has it's own set of problems.  Being an AF pilot is REALLY COOL when things are working right, and it can be a real pain, if they aren't.  Culturally, AF flying ops will train you for a lot, and give you a big list of things you can do (if it isn't addressed, don't assume you can).  I've heard the Navy trains you in most areas, but expects a little more personal initiative to figure out the details.  They operate more from a list of things you can't do (not on the list, and makes sens?  OK).
**from what I've been told.

Not really true, I don't know a single skid pilot who has left the USMC in the last 5 years who didn't already have a flying job lined up (the ones who wanted one anyways).  There are a lot of helo jobs available in the civilian world right now.....from what I'm told anyways, I haven't been looking.

The coast guard takes lots of transferees from all military branches.  I have no evidence to support this, but I would assume they are the hardest flying job to get because I know tons of guys who want to be in the coast guard but can't go for various reasons.  They are far smaller than any military branch.  I've only ever known one non-aviator who joined the coast guard to go direct to flight school.  

If you want to join to fly apply simultaneously to all branches and go with the first to accept you.  I completed the navy process first but they denied my age waiver.  I completed the army process next and here I am.  

All branches have opportunities to be selected exclusively for flight school, it's not only "join first, then see about flight school".  If you want to fly only accept a job flying.  

You may have an idea you want to be a coastie, but you have 0 real world experience to base that on.  If you want to fly go to the first branch to take you, you can always transfer around between branches if you're a good officer.  All branches have jobs doing almost everything flying-wise, don't base your choice on what you think you might do.  The air force has helicopters, the army has jets, and the navy has blimps.  

My father was a helo pilot in the Army.  He retired with over 12000 hours in various helos, with most being in the AH1 Cobra.  My uncle, dad's brother, flew for the Navy.  He went through Top Gun in 85 when they were filming the movie and then came back to be an instructor. He is retired now and flys for Delta.  

I always knew I wanted to serve my country. I joined the Air Force because the girl I was dating in college was in ROTC and suggested I look into it.  I looked into all branches and the AF offered to pay for the remainder of my school.  The AF has been good to me.  In ten years of flying, I've been an instructor in three different airframes totaling approximately 4000 hours of flight time.  I had my private when I came in.   They paid for all my other FAA ratings including my ATP.

If I was in your shoes, I'd research all branches...see what they have to offer.  See what you think will be your best fit for you.  From what I can tell in my experiences (I've flown with three Navy squadrons on joint assignments), there isn't one path that is easier or harder than any other, just better fits for each individual.  

Probably the best thing you can do right now is get all the info you can and keep those grades up.   Someone already mentioned BaseOps.net for AF and air warriors.com for Navy/Marine aviation. I'm not sure about Army and Coast Guard, but I'm sure there are sites out there with good info.  Good luck!

I would look at all services.  I had a good idea of what of wanted to do in the beginning, but ended up wanting something different culturally after a couple years.  Regardless of the service choice you are giving a good portion of your life to them, make sure they are the dudes you want to hang out with.  I was fortunate enough to be able to switch services, but that option is not always available.  All of the services offer pilot contracts and all of them will require some commitment after wings or after you don't make it.  Make sure it is where you want to be.  I love my job and would not do anything differt if given the choice.  I didnt have a traditional career path, but managed to fly my entire career (I'll be at 14 years when these orders are up, and will have options to fly from here).  Work hard and you'll get what you want, just make sure it is what you want.

The above post about the Navy/Marine Corps and AF does seem to be true, the AF gives you more rules and is more rigid while the Navy/MC gives you rope to hang yourself to figure it out.

If your brain is bigger than a pea, you'll never have any problems.  But there always seems to be at least one pea brain in every squadron.

I'll give my plug for USN/USMC TACAIR as well.  What others said about the culture being a sink or swim "figure it out yourself" culture is true.  A lot of it comes from the fact that you're single seat - or single pilot with a WSO.  I wouldn't have it any other way.  It's the greatest if you like being part of the team but like doing your own thing independently and not having people tell you what to do.

I'm obviously not a CRM instructor.

Just because your single seat, doesn't mean CRM is gone.  The barriers are bigger, and requires more sometimes.

I think the Marines on a percent base have the highest rate of prior officers.  I know numerous prior aviator Marines.

To clarify, I was not talking about prior enlisted service.  I was talking about graduates of a flight training program with another service then flying with the USMC.

I knew one.

As in embry or somethingb like that, I know a few, but moat had limited to no flight experience prior.

I think I'm correct in saying that most if not all inter service transfers to Marine Air still have to go thru Marine TBS before they ever see a cockpit. Im guessing that reality could have something to do with fewer winged aviators transferring over to the Corps.

If I had wings I wouldn't want to spend 6+ months running around Quantico either.  That's like taking a step backwards in professional development.

I did, I know there were about 10 more tacair, and I think a dozen or so rotes about the same time frame.  We all had to go to TBS after wings.  I have no regrets, 6 months compared to 12 years is not much to be in the service that I am most closely aligned to.  My peers are at the same point in their career (Marines, Navy guys  6 months ahead).  It does happen, and is dependent on the needs of the service.  I know I wasn't the first nor the last   Though I am pretty sure I was the only USN LTjg to ever select Harriers.